


Promise

by Wicked_Wayward_Warrior



Category: World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: Angst, Break Up, F/M, Friends With Benefits
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-08
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-15 07:02:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,958
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29929698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wicked_Wayward_Warrior/pseuds/Wicked_Wayward_Warrior
Summary: Reader and Roman Reigns meet up before a PPV.
Relationships: Roman Reigns/Reader, Roman Reigns/You
Kudos: 3





	Promise

I never meant to stay the night. For all of Roman's coaxing and whines, it was a miracle that I stayed as long as I had. Sweat cooled his forehead as his snores filled the hotel room. The duvet was thicker than either of us anticipated. Normally he preferred it cold, but he knew I preferred the heat, so he didn't mess with the air.

Soft snores brought a smile to my face as I kissed the soft spot on his neck where his thick beard faded into prickly skin. The brush of my lips made him stir in his sleep, but not too much. As he adjusted his body to get more comfortable, I backed away, careful not to jostle him awake.

The thought that I may never see him again rang through my mind, carving out tunnels in the folds of my brain. Leaving him was the last thing I wanted to do, but it was better this way. All he ever wanted was to be a successful wrestler, and now that he had **his** career, I had nothing I could give him. He deserved more than I was worth, more than I could ever accomplish. I knew that when I watched myself fall for him, and it didn't make the pain hurt any less.

The bed trembled as I swung my legs over. I froze, hoping that Roman remained asleep, and held my breath. After a moment of silence, I pushed myself up and began the search for my clothes. As I stood Roman's arm hooked around my waist, forcing me back down to the plushy mattress to lay beside him.

"Where you going?" He mumbled, eyes still closed.

"Does it matter?" I whispered back to him.

One eye opened and locked onto me. "Yeah, it matters. Come back to bed, baby girl." Sleep coated his voice, making it sound deeper and more gravelly than normal. His voice was always sexy, but when he sounded like this, it was almost irresistible.

Roman pulled me down so that I was lying beside him again. I breathed out a huff and rested my chin on his chest, staring at the intricate lattice patterns in the tattoo that covered his pec and arm. I'd stared at it dozens of times, and each time I noticed something I hadn't before. Like him, it was beautiful and complicated.

"Ro, I told you I wasn't gonna stay," I whined, "and you said you were gonna be okay with that."

He chuckled softly, his lips curling up in a grin that set my skin on fire. "Thought you knew I was lying."

"That's not the point. I was honest from the jump. Not my fault you didn't listen."

His large hands pressed into my skin as he pulled me closer, trapping me under the weight of his arm. "Stay. Here."

A part of me wanted to. There was no safer place in the world than in his arms laying on his chest. There was no more effective lullaby than his quiet breaths and his beating heart, and yet I knew better than to fall into the trap.

Not again. Not ever again.

This was how it always happened. Ro would roll into town and beg me to grab lunch with him before he had to get to the arena for the show. He'd get me in backstage, I'd hang with some of the guys and meet the newest gals, and no matter what I told myself, I always ended up right here, naked, and in a hotel room with him. When I woke up in the morning, he was gone. Room service would be paid for and I wouldn't hear from him again for another year when the show stopped in town.

These nights and early mornings with him were pure bliss, but I couldn't live like this. Not even for him.

"Roman, I have to go," I said with firm conviction in my voice.

He opened his other eye and stared at me with lust blowing his iris wide. "Please, stay," he pleaded, "I always sleep better when you're here."

"And? How do you sleep the other three-hundred-and-sixty-four days a year? As refreshed as you look on TV from week to week, I don't think it's me that's making you sleep any better."

Venom shot through my words, giving him pause. He sat up, fluffing his pillow against the headboard to see me better. "I thought you were fine with our arrangement."

I swallowed hard. "I was--I mean, I am. Which is why I'm leaving." I twisted out of his grasp and stood without much resistance from him. Though I breathed a sigh of relief, some part of me wished he would have fought harder for me to stay. Not that I would. But it would be nice to know that he cared for me beyond what I could give him in bed.

I made quick work of gathering my clothes and stopped when he shifted the sheets off his body. He tossed them to the side, leaving them to hang halfway off the side of the bed I had been laying on. "What are you doing?" I asked, my words tumbling out of my mouth at the mere sight of him.

There was beauty and then there was Roman. Thick ropes of muscle for arms, he was the archetype of the perfect athlete. Strong pecs and impeccable abs, it was hard for me to look away from him when he stood there looking absolutely radiant in the dim light of the moon breaking through the blinds.

"It's the middle of the night." He pulled his sweatpants on and the waistband snapped against his skin. "No way Imma let you off by yourself."

"Dammit, Roman, I'm fine. I know how to call a damn Uber on my own."

A Smug expression hung on his face as made his way over to me. His eyes burned holes into my skin--as if I needed anymore for him to fill. I kept myself busy shrugging into my jacket. Anything to keep me from losing my resolve.

"I know you can, but you don't have to."

"Why are you doing this, huh?"

Roman ran a hand through his long, dark hair, still grinning from ear to ear. "Doing what?"

"Oh don't play dumb, big boy." I gestured around the room and at us. "This! Why are you making this complicated when it doesn't need to be?"

"Am I?" His voice was velvety smooth, unshaken by my anger. "Making this complicated?"

"Yes, you are."

He brushed his thumb along the fabric of my jacket and sighed. "And how do I make this uncomplicated?"

My gaze fell to what little floor was visible between us. Averting my eyes was how I stayed safe, unaffected by his charm. "By never calling me again."

I was surprised when the words flew out of my mouth, but not nearly as shocked as Roman had been. His brows furrowed, and he took a step back, allowing his hands to fall free from my shoulders. "What?"

"I'm tired of looking at the schedule for your shows, getting excited when I see that you're coming to my town. I hate the nerves I get waiting for you to call. I hate that seeing you **has** become some kind of holiday or something. Like Christmas or the Fourth of July. It's ridiculous."

Roman hummed, his mouth turning into a frown as he drew into his own thoughts. I waited, expecting him to say something, to caress my cheek, to laugh at my stupidity, but he did none of those things. It was as if I hadn't said a thing, which was worse than all the what if's I could imagine.

"Is that all you're gonna say?" I popped my hip and folded my arms over my chest. "Just Hmm?"

"What do you want me to say?"

I shrugged and turned away from him. At this moment, the patterns in the carpet commanded my attention. "I don't know, Ro. I just wanna go home. Get back to my life. And I don't want you to interrupt it again."

Heat from his breath tickled my neck and the hair on my skin stood up. He placed his hands on my shoulders and let them slide down my arms and wrap around my waist. His chest pressed against my back and my resolve weakened.

"What if that's not what I wanted." His voice rolled into my ears, hot and raspy.

My body stiffened beneath his hold. "What is it that you want?"

"Make this more than an annual occurrence. More than a holiday, as you called it."

"No."

The bristles of his beard scratched my cheek and I turned away from him. I didn't want to turn away from him.

"Maybe you could come on the road with me. Just for a little while, baby girl."

"Negative," I breathed. "I'm not staying with you until you don't want me anymore. Throw me out like garbage."

Roman left a trail of kisses down the side of my neck, making me shiver with excitement. "Never. Not garbage." Wet, soft lips. Tender kisses.

He always knew how to make me melt like caramel in his hands.

I closed my eyes, intoxicated by his scent as he pulled my hips back and into him. Bergamot and cinnamon. Soothing. Sexy. Soulful. "Never treat you like that. Mean too much."

For a moment, it was as if things were how they used to be before Roman started going on the road. We were together for almost a year when he finally got called up to the main roster. With him gone, I left town, moved here. I knew with him being on the road this wouldn't work. This couldn't work.

I missed him. My god did I miss him. But I told myself it wouldn't be like this. Not anymore. Not this time.

I wiggled out of Roman's grasp and spun on him, determination setting in my jaw. "No, Ro, I ain't doing this. I'm not gonna put my life on pause for you. Not again."

Sadness claimed his eyes and for the first time tonight, his confidence seemed to falter. "Why? Won't you just give this a shot?"

A smile crept across my face. I tiptoed over to him and planted a kiss on his cheek. "Because," I whispered, my hand flattening on his bare chest, "I love myself too damn much."

A final gaze at his thick lips that were excellent at kissing, and sensual confidence in his brown eyes. I turned around and pushed down on the door handle.

The room shifted as he rushed behind me, desperation in his face. "Don't go! Please, just stay the night."

"No."

"But it's almost three. You can sleep here where it's safe, baby. I won't bother you, I promise."

He promised. Just like he promised he'd call. Like he promised he'd visit more. Like he promised he'd be mine forever.

Promises were the one thing he always sucked at.

"Good luck on your match, Roman. Hope you win tonight. Hope you become the champion you always deserved to be."

"Please." A whimper. One final plea.

Cool air rushed in when the door swung open and the yellow lights in the hallway flooded the hotel room. I couldn't find the strength to say goodbye. I couldn't say those words and make it final and true.

For me, it was enough to shut the door behind me and shuffle down the hall to the elevator. It was enough that I sat in the lobby waiting for my Uber. It was enough that I didn't turn back.

And he didn't come for me.


End file.
